BUZZ: Gov. Nikki Haley, Sen. Hugh Leatherman coy on Boeing 777X bid

Two South Carolina leaders declined to say directly Tuesday if the state is submitting a bid for producing Boeing's 777X jet.

Proposed incentive packages are due to the Chicago aircraft maker on Tuesday. More than a dozen states reportedly received requests from Boeing to bid on producing the airliner with several touting their interest.

But don't count South Carolina, where Boeing already has a manufacturing plant and received $570 million in incentives, among the braggers.

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Senate Finance chairman Hugh Leatherman, a Florence Republican who has worked closely with Boeing, said "we'll have to see" when asked Tuesday about a South Carolina bid for the new production line.

"We've always been in interested in Boeing," he said. "We stay interested in all cases."

Boeing seeks a long runway, land to build a 4.2 million-square-foot factory, a number of of tax breaks and access to interstates, rail lines and possibly a deep-sea port, according to a copy of the company's pitch to state obtained by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The company says the 777X will be the "largest and most-efficient twin-engine jet in the world" made from light-weight composite materials like the Boeing's 787 aircraft.

In South Carolina, Boeing operates a 6,000-employee 787 jet manufacturing plant in North Charleston. The Lowcountry plant was the company's first outside of the Seattle area.

This year, South Carolina gave Boeing another $120 million in incentives -- on top of the state-record $450 million to lure the company initially -- to expand the North Charleston plant.

The expansion is expected to involve the 737 jet and could add 2,000 workers.